(Anna)

LA is a joke of a city.  Approaching it I expected to see a nice view coming in from the hills, however we were greeted by smog and traffic.  The drivers are erratic and aggressive, the traffic jams are enormous and there are virtually no useful road signs telling you where to go.  With the help of Google Maps, we managed to navigate ourselves to the Hollywood sign view point and when we finally arrived, the car park had just 8 spaces, as well as some minibuses parked so that people couldn't get in or out of the place so it took a while before we could actually get out and see it. 

The saying goes that "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas", but obviously that would make for a pretty crap blog entry, plus we haven't done anything outrageous, so on this occasion I am prepared to share!

The final update, then, as I spend my last full day in Thailand. We have come back to Koh Samui this morning, and checked back in to the Tawee Guest house we were first in when I arrived. It feels like The Ritz compared to the last few places we've been - the last, in Koh Pha Ngan, was even more... shall we say, 'rustic', than the previous ones! Up on the side of a hill that required 57 stairs to get to (even more fun with a backpack and rucksack weighing you down!), the view had potential to be good. However, unlike Adam, who had a nice clear view of the sea, I had two great trees in front of my shack meaning I could see sod all. Shower barely worked, the fluorescent light in the main room flickered and strobed like some kind of rave disco but never actually lighted up completely, and on more than one occasion there was a lizard in the room. Still - cheap!

Just a quick update this time. All is going supremely well and I continue to have a great time. We're still on Koh Tao, staying here 'til probably Thursday or Friday.

Anyhow, we have booked to go diving tomorrow, so I will post a fuller blog with details of that and all the other updates probably tomorrow afternoon or Thursday.

Aaron x

All is still going well in Thailand, although having adjusted my body clock to Thai time, I'm now having to readjust it to 'night out with Adam' time - hitting the sack at 6am and leaving it sometime in the early afternoon. All will change tonight though as we are being picked up at 7am tomorrow to go on a tour of Ang Thong National Marine Park...